1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for the entry of data into an information system.
2. Related Art
Many techniques for the entry of data into information systems have been tried over the span of human history, including many different methods based on textual and graphic representations. The advent of the computer and more recently, computer networks, have provided for yet more sophisticated techniques.
The vastly distributed information system known as the World Wide Web (WWW or Web) is largely composed of documents created in the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). A widespread technique for data entry in respect of Web applications is the use of an HTML form. See, for example, the “Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP/1.0” document of the Internet Engineering TaskForce (IETF), published August 1995, authored by Berners-Lee, Fielding and Frystyk.
An HTML form is a special type of HTML document. Unlike an ordinary HTML document, a user is allowed to input information (for example text input or so-called checkboxes, radio buttons and ranges) into the form and when complete, the user may click a submit button, whereupon the form is sent to an associated address for processing as appropriate.
The widespread use of such forms, whilst utilising user familiarity with the concept of its predecessor, the printed form, can however entail significant disadvantages.
Due, for example, to the still largely textual nature of these forms, any users having difficulty with the reading of the form will be at a considerable disadvantage relative to a user who can read and fill in the form with ease. An obvious example is a user with a deficient grasp of the language in which the form is expressed. Further examples include pre-school children and the elderly, where such users may not be able to read the form or may not yet have acquired a sufficiently sophisticated understanding of what is required of them in filling in such an electronic form.
A rather more intuitive user interface is perhaps provided in a three-dimensional virtual environment. It is to be noted that the three dimensional nature of the virtual environment typically refers to the degrees of freedom of movement of the user within the virtual environment. At the present time the user interface typically takes the form of a two-dimensional view (on a monitor or other display) of the three-dimensional virtual environment.
The possibilities of reproducing real world behaviour in these environments make for a more intelligible experience. A conventional method of describing the Eiffel Tower, for example, might rely on providing two-dimensional pages with text and photographic images, as for example in a guide book or in a set of linked HTML pages forming a Web site. A virtual environment simulation might instead allow the user to walk (or even fly) around the structure in a much closer approximation to being present at the Eiffel Tower than was possible with conventional techniques.
As far as data entry in a three dimensional virtual environment is concerned, however, it is still typical to fall back on the use of an HTML form. When desired, such a form may be presented in a Web browser window in conjunction with the user's view of the virtual environment. The user would then fill in the form in the usual ‘point and click’ manner before submission as above, upon which control of the avatar could be resumed.